Photo-centric design: touch Shutter button in Play mode and camera returns to Record mode.

Compatible with all Canon EOS system lenses and accessories, focal length multiplier of 1.6, plus the new EF-S digital-only lens

The EOS 10D was an immensely popular camera, capitalizing on the EOS name with an excellent feature set and sterling performance. The EOS 300D surpassed its predecessor's popularity, offering very similar functionality at a much lower price point. Although there were a few design adjustments (not to mince words, they were deliberate de-featurings) that left more experienced users wanting (such as the inability to select metering and focus modes at will), the EOS 300D is a very capable camera with an excellent feature set. The broad range of exposure control, from pure point & shoot to full manual control should make users of most any experience level feel comfortable. Resolution, color, and tonal range are all very good to excellent, and the newly-introduced 18-55mm EF-S lens that is being offered along with the Digital Rebel is of surprisingly high quality. All in all, a dramatically affordable, true interchangeable-lens digital SLR.

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $950.00| Rating: 5

Pros:

affordable, light, relatively easy to use

Cons:

lack of FEC, slow

OK, so the 300D has been out of production for awhile now, so if you are reading this you will be shopping for a used product. Given that, let's see how it has held up:

Speed of use: when I bought it new it was not a fast camera. Now, it seems quite slow compared to the latest generation of DSLRs. However, by using a fast CF card you can improve the write speed.

Lack of control: Lacking Flash Exposure Compensation can be a real handicap.

Size: Still relatively light weight, the size is larger than the latest round of tiny DSLRs, so it is easier to grip than say the 350D. The vertical grip does help with big lenses, as well as adding a spot for a second battery.

What to watch out for buying used: This DSLR had Canon's least durable shutter and mirror assemblies, similar to the film Rebels. However, with digitial people are pressing the shutter significnatly more than in the days of film. As a result, we are hearing of shutter or mirror failures. Fortunately mine is still going strong.

As far as image quality, in its day it was very competitive with more expensive cameras. Not so today, where an 350D or 400D will get you more.

Bottom line: worth buying used if you like the size/feel and want the Canon EF-s lens mount, but I wouldn't pay over about $250 for one given that new DSLRs can be had for $500.

silverbluemx

Registered: November 2006Posts: 16

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D review by silverbluemx

Review Date: 1/13/2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $500.00| Rating: 8

I bought this camera about 1 year ago used, and it made me enter the world of DSLRs (and I am still happy with it, 4 years after it has been released).

After one year of use, the strong points of this DSLR are :
- well, its an SLR. You've got the largest lineup of lenses, lots of accessories, and I could never go back to an electronic viewfinder!
- price! I got mine used on eBay for $500 with a lot of accessories and it can be found for less than $300 now!
- image quality! I am still astonished by the quality of the pictures it delivers when properly used. It was really a HUGE improve over my P&S, and I think that 6Mp is quite enough for my use (web, and up to 30x20cm prints). High ISO performance is a little lower than the newer bodies, but still A LOT better than P&S's and good enough for my use.
- with the hacked firmware, advanced features can be enabled, such as mirror lockup, flash exposure compensation etc...
- body size is perfect for me, I think than the grip on the 350D and 400D is too small for my hands, and it is easy to handle
- everybody around me who tried it said they liked the sound it makes and the feeling of being a "true camera".

However, this camera is at the very bottom of Canon's DSLR lineup, and so has some drawbacks :
- slow operation : it needs about 2-3 secs to power on, but with its efficient sleep mode you can leave it on during your whole shooting session (I usually turn it on when I take it out of the bag, and turn it off when it goes back in it. I once left it on all the day, no problem).
- small buffer : in continuous shooting mode you can only take up to 4 frames, then you have to wait a few seconds for them to be processed. Honestly I am hardly ever limited by this.
- plastic body : the body is made of a high quality plastic, so it doesn't feel like it will break in your hands, but I still prefer a metal body (like 20D and over)
- limited autofocus : continuous-AF is not selectable, and I have experienced a few times front or backfocus issues with my third-party (Sigma) lenses (I guess the lens is at fault, but I read that the same lenses on newer bodies have no problems...)

If I had to conclude, I would say that I have spent more than $1400 on my photographic equipment (have I said that I am a 20yo student?) build around this body, shoot about 3000 pictures, and I am convinced that I still need a lot more experience to be limited by this camera.
It is a great value for the money, a huge leap from the P&S world, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to begin with serious photography without spending a thousand dollar in a new camera!

AlainD

Registered: January 2007Posts: 8

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D review by AlainD

Review Date: 1/12/2007

Would you recommend the product? No |
Total Spent: $500.00| Rating: 7

Pros:

first DSLR under $1k, smooth ISO

Cons:

outdated, larger empty body feel, slugish star/image review

bought this 2.5 years ago as my firs DSLR as the price was too good to continue P&S, and the quality is way better especially in low light.

Obviously this camera is outdated now - not because of 6mp (which is enough for most) but because of small LCD, some crippled functions (can use hack) but mostly camera felt very slugish processing images (especially RAW), startup, previewing images.... you just have to wait for it.

XT is a much better choice IMO, which I got about 10 months later. Some people lake the larger grip, but I felt the body always was too big and felt empty box. I happen to like the compact XT much more, and leave it ON (sleep) ready to take a picture in 1/10th sec wake up, instead for 2-3+ sec on the original rebel.

crmorse

Registered: January 2007Posts: 11

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D review by crmorse

Review Date: 1/5/2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $700.00| Rating: 8

Pros:

Budget price, DSLR quality compared to digicams

Cons:

Aging design

I bought this 2nd hand a little over 2 years ago and it now has over 25,000 frames so reliablity is excellent.

I have always been very pleased with picture quality. The only real drawback I see compared to the other DSLRs is the lack of more advanced features (FEC, Mirror Lockup, AI Servo, etc.) which can all be added back with one of the many hacked firmwares available. I've been using it that way for the last 2 years.

Pros:
* Picture quality, speed, noise, and features far exceed all but the best digicams.
* RAW mode. Use it!
* Can be had very cheap now on the 2nd hand market

Brought one and a half years ago on second hand with the kit lens from a friend upgrading to the EOS 350D with more than 8k actuations. I now have more than 12k…

Coming from a Powershot G5 it was a huge image quality leap forward. Photos until ISO 400 were as good as or better than my G5 at ISO 50, and at ISO 800 as good as or better than the G5’s ISO 100. It opened an all new world of photography for me, especially since my two main photo subjects are low light landscapes and city night photos.

The main problem it’s that it’s a slowww camera, now startup times from a 2006 P&S are faster, its buffer is on the small side (but still better than most P&S) and it’s silver color isn’t as discreet as I would like it to be. On plus side, it’s a joy using RAW with it, since all mainstream programs support it…

Just a word of caution: It opened a hole in my wallet since I soon realized that I would need some “nice” glass to it: I’ve acquired the 17-85, the 10-22 and the Sigma 150 macro in the last year. I also brought a nice tripod with head, some expensive filters, new hard drives, backpacks and so on. It never ends…

drwho9437

Registered: November 2006Posts: 9

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D review by drwho9437

Review Date: 1/1/2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: None indicated| Rating: 7

Pros:

Good free Raw, Good lens selection, fine image quality

Cons:

slow start times, tiny LCD

Its hard to rate a 3(?) year old camera. Like many others I got this when it was new. At that point it was a excellent value. It served me well, flawlessly, until a 400D took its place. I said flawlessly, yet its flaws are what left a bitter taste in my mouth moving to the 400D.

The biggest issue with this camera and why it was gotten rid of (other than my being a tech nerd I guess) is that its start up takes a long long time by current standards. That and its LCD are tiny. Make it quite hard to review shots in the field. All the other major issues I'd say it has the 400D has also: a small viewfinder, inexpensive construction (don't bother me much). I'd say the grip on the 300D is better than its newer cousin.

To my mind the thing that recommends the 300D most over the other products on the market is that it probably can be had for a song. The kit lens MKI wasn't really too bad. But most of all: Rawshooter. Its defunct now, so no more updates for new bodies, but its out there and free for old cameras like this, and the results it makes with easy are great. Adobe saw an end to it...

But anyway, its a fine camera if you can put up with its limitations, with hacked firmware you just have to put up with the slow start and 6 MP sensor.

_Mike_D

Registered: December 2006Posts: 12

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D review by _Mike_D

Review Date: 1/1/2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $650.00| Rating: 8

It is and inexpensive yet very capable camera. The image quality is excellent and can still compete with the 10mp cameras now being released.

My only complaints about the camera are that it has a slow start up time (a couple of seconds at least.) Although this may not seem like a problem, I have missed quiet a few shots waiting for the camera to start up.

I used this camera from more then 1.5 years with different lenses: Canon kit 18-55, Sigma 18-125, 18-200, 70-300, Tamron 24-135, Canon 24-105, 50/1.8 and I am quite satisfied with the picture result.
To obtain the best photos I strongly reccomend to shoot RAW and convert files later in Adobe Camera Raw (this is the program that works best for me, but of course you can use any other program). Doing this, you can overpass the camera WB which may be not very good especially in some particulary light (indor, different light sources) and you can get the best for lighter and darker areas of the picture by adjusting the exposure.
Indoor pictures with 420EX flash need some exposure adjustament in postprocessing, very easy to correct in ACR (usually no more than one stop).
The focus is fast and accurate, even in low light. Using the external flash 420EX, you can focus pretty on everything: white or dark surface from ~10m (may be more, but I didn't test more) thanks to the red light pattern emitted from the flash.
The noise is very acceptable until ISO 400. ISO 800 need some reduction, ISO 1600 more reduction. I have also ISO 3200 but I did not use it, since it appear to be to noisy.
Night photography is amaizing with this camera: long exposures at lower ISO comes out very clean.
The initial blocked functions is an issue thet can be solved in few minutes with the available firmware from the net. It works on my camera from the beginning without problems.
The buffer seems to end up to quickly some time with its 4 shots capacity, but as soon as at least one picture is transferred to the card you cand shot again another one.

With a good lens you will get better pictures, of course, but also with the kit lens the pictures comes out pretty well, if the settings are choosed carefully.

killersnowman

Registered: October 2005Posts: 10

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D review by killersnowman

Review Date: 12/12/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $800.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

ergonomics, weight, price

Cons:

build, buffer

this was my first camera. i got this over one of the prosumer digicams like the canon proshot 1.

this camera gave me many great photos. the image quality is amazing for a 6mp camera. even though this camera has less megapixels than say the 350D and the 400D i would still rather shoot with this camera than one of those others. the difference is in the ergonomics. the hand grip is nice and big with plenty of room to wrap your fingers around.

also when combined with one of the russian firmware hacks this camera opens up many of the dormant features left over from the D60. it was really nice to be able to customize the 'ok' button for other purposes while shooting.

the only real downside to this camera is the build and the buffer. the camera is plastic and feels that way in your hand. this of course lets it be cheaper so that the price could be below the magical $1000 mark. the buffer is also a little lacking. not good for fast paced sports shooting.

great little camera!

cjbowlsby

Registered: November 2006Posts: 17

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D review by cjbowlsby

Review Date: 11/30/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $300.00| Rating: 8

Pros:

weight, ergonomics, usable high ISO, price, resolution

Cons:

small buffer, build quality, slow focus, no PC sync, start up time

I have a love/hate relationship with this camera.

It could be higher resolution. But, honestly, it's rare that I need anything larger than an 8x10 and the 300D will provide for that with ease. IS0 800 is terrific, and IS0 1600 is perfectly usable in either small print sizes or with a little bit of PhotoShop magic.

My only complaint – and it's a big one – is that it's SO SLOW to start up. I've been so spoiled by my 20D's instant power-on.

But if I don't want to carry my 20D around, and I don't need really large prints, the Rebel is a solid alternative. Especially for the price of a mid-line digicam.

grahambo

Registered: November 2006Posts: 8

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D review by grahambo

Review Date: 11/26/2006

Would you recommend the product? No |
Total Spent: $950.00| Rating: 5

Pros:

Comfortable grip (more like Nikon, less like XT and XTi), respectable high ISO performance (for its day)

Cons:

Difficult to get indoor white balance right. Flash as AF assist light. Camera shuts down if flash is not allowed to pop all the way up (which it does automatically for AF assist). Small buffer and long flush times.

I purchased this camera shortly after it became available. I tried to like it, but ended up returning it. Since then I have had occasional access to a couple friends’ Digital Rebels.

First, the good. The best thing about this camera is the ergonomics. They are much better than the newer XT and XTi. The view finder is small, but doesn’t have too much tunnel vision.

In operation it usually felt responsive, and the controls were easy to figure out. The buffer is frustratingly small and slow to flush, but that didn’t hamper my style of shooting too badly.

Now, the bad. This camera never felt like a completely finished product. Hacks started showing up right away to enable features that had been “coded out” of the low end camera. I never used them, but when I found them it made it harder to fall in love with the camera. Construction didn’t feel quite as solid as I expected for the price. It also had some frustrating operating quirks.

The worst of these quirks was that the camera would shut down when problems happened. For instance, if it tried to release the flash to act as an AF assist light, and the flash wasn’t allowed to move all the way into the deployed position, the camera throws up its hands and says “I Quit!” The camera’s long start up time didn’t bother me in most situations, but annoyed me very much when I was forced to reboot.

Picture quality was good in the right situations, but the white balance wasn’t predictable enough. With a good lens and the patience to process raw, the results are very respectable. The kit lens however, was often not capable of getting the best out of the camera.

Since then, I have gone on to other fixed lens cameras. I would consider picking up a Digital Rebel again if the price was right. It is still a step up from fixed lens cameras, even three years later. It’s just doesn’t deliver the potential of an SLR.

nikoskard

Registered: November 2006Posts: 17

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D review by nikoskard

Review Date: 11/18/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: None indicated| Rating: 8

Pros:

Perfect for beginers

Cons:

Slow, Hi ISO performance just OK, Not to many manual options.

300D was my first DSLR, and i must admit it is the equipment that made me change my opinion about photography.

Now i have a lot of photo equipment to play with, and i still have my Rebel, even with the cons.

It is by no way, even close, with new released models, but i now prefer buy lens. Then i have to decide for new one.

donberry

Registered: November 2006Posts: 1

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D review by donberry

Review Date: 11/17/2006

Would you recommend the product? No |
Total Spent: $600.00| Rating: 5

Pros:

dslr

Cons:

value for $$$$

I currently own a Panasonic FZ-30 which I paid under $500.00 for. As the price on these have come down so far, I thought I would check one out so I could re-enter the slr market. I will admit I did not use it long enough to get copletely comfortable with it, but for the money, I prefered the FZ-30. Yes, you can change lenses, but by the time you do this you have twice as much money in the Canon trying to do what the Panasonic does for under $500.00. If I were going to step up to a DSLR, I would go ahead and step into something much nicer or I would buy a super zoom like the Panasonic -

kenunger

Registered: December 2005Posts: 3

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D review by kenunger

Review Date: 12/4/2005

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $650.00| Rating: 5

Pros:

100 ISO

Cons:

Flimsy Plastic, slow buffer, awkward controls

I used this camera for about a year and put about 10,000 clicks on it. I was not really impressed with it's poor construction, inconsistant flash white balance and very slow write to 80X memory cards. Image quality was fair to good when using L glass

mdecolle

Registered: October 2005Posts: 1

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D review by mdecolle

Review Date: 10/26/2005

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $600.00| Rating: 8

Pros:

quality of pics taken, low noise, price

Cons:

slow to start up, short 4 frames buffer

I've bought Canon's 300d as a natural follow on to my line of compact digicams. Main reason was noise in the last batch of sensors and the lack of a real viewfinder (my previous digicams had all an evf).
Build quality is good, I'm no pro but I use my camera on many travels around the world and it had to whitstand some pretty rough handling. Image quality is good, low noise, clean and can be manipulated nicely with photoshop. I installed the undutchables firmware and so I have access to iso 3200, flash exposure compensation, mirror lockup and focus mode selection. Another great plus is the viewfinder: for me, coming from those tiny electronic viewfinders is like "seeing the light", I can focus manually!!! .
I thought that the inability to choose the exposure metering mode would be something I would have missed, but after all the standard evaluative metering does a good job and the partial mode (not a true spot one) is always just a push of a button away. The only major drawback is the small buffer: 4 shots sometimes leave you waiting while the camera writes the buffer onto the card.
In conclusion: it's a great value for the money and a giant leap forward for everyone transitioning from compact digicams. I use it almost 100% of time with a sigma 18-200 on it and this cam travels the world with me. Absolutely recommended.